Welcome to the Department of Pediatrics at the University of Alabama at Birmingham (UAB) Heersink School of Medicine.

Here, we are driven by what I like to call a productive restlessness—a deep, collective urgency among our faculty and staff to do more, do better, and do it now.

Our department inhabits an enviable position – members of a world class academic institution caring for patients at Children’s of Alabama, the only free-standing children’s hospital in the state located in the heart of the medical district of Birmingham and physically connected UAB Hospitals. This context obligates us to maximize our talents and resources delivering the most up-to-date, evidence-based care to the children and families we serve. Whether through the latest evidence based treatments, dynamic teaching, or innovative research, we continuously seek ways to elevate pediatric health and improve outcomes in real, tangible ways.

Deeply rooted in the education of the next generation of pediatricians and pediatric subspecialists, we see each learner as more than a trainee, but as a future colleague and catalyst for change. It’s a privilege—and a responsibility—we take seriously.

We seize on opportunities within our department, our school and institution to embrace the best science in the belief that every child deserves this pursuit, and we commit to advance that science at every stage. Our investigators collaborate across disciplines within UAB, as well as with other institutions, leveraging our strengths in data science, population health, and bench-to-bedside research. In all of it, the goal remains the same: better health for children, everywhere.

With eyes on the goal, quality improvement is not an initiative; it’s a mindset. We maintain an unrelenting pursuit of meaningful, practical improvements to how we deliver care. Every process we examine, every metric we measure, is in service of doing what’s best for our patients.

And we do all of this while navigating one of the most complex challenges in modern medicine: the tension between our moral obligation to provide comprehensive care to all and the fiscal realities of the healthcare system. We do not shy away from this tension. Instead, we use it as a compass, continually asking: How can we honor both?

Please explore our website to learn more about our programs, people, and impact. Whether you are a patient, a student, a researcher, or a prospective colleague, we welcome your curiosity and your collaboration.

Thank you for visiting. 

Yung R. Lau, MD

Professor and Chair of Pediatrics
Heersink School of Medicine
University of Alabama at Birmingham
Physician-in-Chief
Children’s of Alabama